This week’s 5 best bets for live music in Las Vegas

Dirkschneider

Udo Dirkschneider is the original voice of German metal greats Accept, and what a voice it is, a blunt instrument that starts in the gut and erupts from the gullet like the steam blasting from a geyser, delivered by a pitbull of a man who looks as if he chews leather in place of Hubba Bubba. Dirkschneider last played with Accept over a decade ago, but on his current tour, he’s performing close to two dozen of the band’s signature tunes, maybe for the last time, as he’s intimated. Scream for the love-bite while you still have the chance at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Adrenaline Sports Bar and Grill. Tickets are $25; call 702-645-4139.

The Album Leaf

The Album Leaf’s inviting, ambient electronica is a lot like the visual art projected at the band’s gigs: beatific, open-ended and subject to one’s own interpretation, only with swelling synth and murmuring beats in place of paint and canvas. See The Album Leaf at 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Beauty Bar. Tickets are $15; call 702-598-3757.

Retox

These dudes whack at punk rock like a pinata, one whose innards come filled with D batteries and spoiled meat in place of sweets. Retox’s assaultive charge is driven into the red by needling guitars and shout-it-out vocals where every word sounds like a taunt. It’s some exhilarating stuff if you can handle it. See them at 9 p.m. Saturday at The Bunkhouse Saloon. Tickets are $10 in advance, $12 day of show; call 702-982-1764.

The Sonics

Like the Velvet Underground and The Stooges, The Sonics are one of those bands whose influence and commercial profile have often been at odds with one another. No, the ’60s garage rock forebears never sold a lot of records. But seemingly everyone who ever bought one started a band. To wit, the list of artists who’ve covered them is a long one, ranging from Bruce Springsteen to The Cramps, L7 to The Flaming Lips , with groups like The White Stripes, The Hives and Nirvana lauding the band’s rough-and-tumble, curled-lip take on rock ’n’ roll as an ahead-of-its time precursor to punk rock and grunge . See The Sonics at 8 p.m. Friday at Backstage Bar & Billiards. Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door; call 702-382-2227.

Protest the Hero

These Canadians’ high-voiced prog metal is fatiguing in a good way, like running a marathon or polishing off a 12-pack in a single sitting. Attempting to keep up with their speedy, intricate guitar interplay while anticipating which direction their roller-coaster rhythms will take them next is exhausting at times, and if you’re going to try to play along on the air guitar, best invest in a wrist brace. See them at 7 p.m. Thursday at Brooklyn Bowl at The Linq, with August Burns Red. Tickets are $23; call 702-862-2695.